The Black Arabs Interview
Details Interviewee '- Christina Rushent (The Black Arabs) '''Interviewer '- Johan (IFK) '''Forum Post Date - 23rd October 2009 'Original Thread '- Click here Interview 'Rumours say they have one of the oldest squads in TM, true or not we don’t know but here’s an interview with the famous Black Arabs. ' '1. Who’s Christina Rushent? ' I'm a 34 year old Bristol girl; yes I am still a girl at 34, lol. I have a very boring job in a warehouse and I have been a passionate Bristol Rovers fan for about 10 years or so now. For those that don't know and I think that would be most of you, Bristol Rovers were formed in 1883 and were originally called Black Arabs FC. So now I have dispelled the myth that I'm an Arab. I get so many challenges from Arabian teams. '2. When you started out in TM did you have any early plans and did they go like you wanted? ' My early plans were to buy in some cheap old players to gain a couple of quick promotions and then gradually replace them with younger players whilst gradually investing more in youth development. My plans did work well in the first couple of seasons. I did underestimate the amount of money I'd have to spend on YD to yield some decent talent capable of making the first team though and ended up stuck in a rut buying old players for a while and I'm still trying to get my average age down now without losing too much skill in my squad. '3. Any advice for a new manager starting the game today? ' Don't trust you’re what your youth development says. On low levels of YD your YD will mostly give quite an inaccurate appraisal of your youth’s potential. Take on players you think might be good by looking at their stats and then scout them with a good scout to find their true potential. You might have been throwing away valuable talent or even training useless players that will never come good. '4. Happy with your YD so far and the results from it? ' Well, it took me a while to realise that I needed to invest more in YD than I was to get some decent players. I've started to invest in YD a bit more now and only really had 1 decent player so far. Hopefully I'll be getting more in the future. '5. How much time do you spend on TM every day/week? ' I usually spend maybe 20 minutes a day, it's hard to say. I'm on my computer a lot at home and I might check on TM a few times a day for a couple of minutes when I'm trying to sign some players, I usually end up forgetting when the deadlines are though and missing out, I should use the agent more. '6. If you could hack Thomas account for a day and change TM at your will what would you change and what things would you implement? ' I would make an international B team league, contentious issue I know but I don't feel its right for B teams to be in the league, that's all I better say about that. Perhaps I would update the forums as well so you can do more with them, not sure what exactly but make them less bland looking at least. '7. TM is a great game, what do you like most about it? ' I like the fact it's not about real football teams, it's about your own team, which makes it more personal. Yes I am a football fan and I follow my local team with a passion but, I don't know much about the Premier league and things like that. It's good that I can play TM without knowing much about the top teams and popular players of the game. '8. What do you least like with it? ' I don't think there is anything drastically wrong with TM, I've had a good mix of good luck and bad luck since playing TM. It can get frustrating at times but then frustration and football go hand in hand. I guess I least like having bad luck but that's life, it happens. '9. Routine is it important in TM? ' Hmm, I think it is, but then sometimes I wonder if it really is. I think it's hard to tell sometimes what difference it makes but I think that the fact routine is there means it must be important. '10. Do you think you have your facilities at an affordable level and do you make a profit before a game is played? ' I used to make a profit all the time, but then I realised I needed to take more risks and put more money into TG and YD to be able to bring young players into my squad that will be good enough to play for the team one day. I don't make a profit any more, before a game is played. I'm still going to increase my TG and YD a little more though. '11. Thinking of upgrading facilities or is it economy safety first and building up second priority? ' Well as I said I'm going to increase my TG and YD just a little more. I think you have to take some risks to make some gains in TM and up 'till now I've been playing the game a little too safe. My stadium at 17,500 is a good size for my fan base and I'm happy with the levels of my other facilities at the moment. '12. Captaincy is that important and how do you chose your own one? ' I think who you choose for your captain is very important. Choose a hot head for your team captain and I think your whole team will collect more bookings. Leadership is important I think. My Captain is my DMC; I like to have a captain who plays in the middle of midfield. '13. 5 foreigners rule, good or bad? ' Good. I think without it then leagues would just be full of players from everywhere and I think nations on TM would kind of lose their identities. '14. Lots of promotions so far, is 4th Division the place where the real competition starts? ' For my team I think so, it's tough. Divisions 5 to 9 for me always had quite a few inactive teams, and games you could almost bank on winning. Every game for me in div.4 is tough. A lot of teams in my group have better players than me so it's certainly a challenge to compete with them. '15. Close at the top, is promotion your aim this season? ' Well we're in 2nd place (at the time of writing) but really I feel if we went up this season we would get hammered in div.3. My aim this season is to stay in div.4 whilst we build a better squad capable of surviving in div.3. If we do go up it would be fantastic though. '16. You don’t have a big youth squad, something you will change coming seasons? ' Yes, I want a lot more youth players. Now I have my YD at a reasonable level I should hopefully (if the TM gods allow) be able to take on more talented youths that will have a chance to play for the team. So far only my 20 year old goalkeeper has made it to my team from my YD. '17. The forum, do you use it a lot and do you think we miss something in there? ' I use the forum now and then, but it annoys me when people fill up the forums with childish rubbish and pointless threads. I don't envy the teamsters who I think do a good job of locking endlessly pointless topics and guiding people to the right threads. I've been playing TM for over a year now so sometimes I can help someone just starting with the odd thing on the forums. '18. Where do we find The Black Arabs in season 23? ' Hehe, season 23, well...., I'd like to think I could be in division 2 by season 23. It's a tough game though which I'm still learning about all the time, who knows, I'd be really happy if I could make division 2. The Black Arabs is a team in transition at the moment and it could be a few seasons before we really start moving forward. I'm always optimistic and hopeful though. I've made plenty of mistakes but hopefully I've learned a lot from them. '19. Prem, distant dream for a new club or possible for anyone who make a huge effort to go from the bottom to the top? ' I think it's possible. If a club can get the balance right between buying in players and investing in youth and get some luck along the way then why not. I'm sure the mentoring system really helps new clubs too. '20. What’s your best moment in TM so far? Was it a special game, season or a certain youth pull? ' It's a tough choice; I've had a few good moments. Making it to round 8 in the English cup as a div.9 side beating a div.3 side along the way felt really good. Winning the div.5.53 title in season 15 was a big achievement for my boys, and recently finishing top of my group in the first group stage of the over 30's championship in the first season I've entered into it, that was also a good moment. I think probably winning the div.5.53 title probably was my best moment though. 'Cheers and good luck in your hunt for promotion. ' Thank you :)